Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis (called autoimmune thyroiditis) is the most common cause of hypothyroidism and most common type of thyroiditis. For unknown causes, the person’s body is turning against itself in an autoimmune reaction, producing antibodies that are attacking the thyroid glands.

Hashimoto’s thyroiditis tends to run in families and is most likely to occur in older women. Such type of thyroiditis happens 8 times more frequently in females, than in males, and can happen in individuals with specific chromosomal defects such as Klinefelter’s, Down, and Turner’s syndromes. Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis frequently starts with a thyroid gland’s painless enlargement or a neck’s fullness feeling.

When doctor feels the gland, he or she commonly find it enlarged, with a rubbery textures, but not tender; in some cases it feels lumpy. The thyroid glands are underactive in appr. 20% of the individuals when Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis are found; the remaining have normal thyroid functions. Many individuals, who have Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis experience other endocrine diseases such as underactive parathyroid gland, underactive adrenal glands, diabetes, and other autoimmune disorders such as Lupus, pernicious anemia, sjogren’s syndrome, or rheumatoid arthritis.

A doctor orders special thyroid function tests on blood sample to check whether the gland function normally, but Hashimoto’s thyroiditis diagnosis mainly depends on the physical examination, symptoms, and whether the patient has the antithyroid antibodies, which may easily be measured in a blood tests. No certain treatment is exist for Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. Most individuals usually progress hypothyroidism and should take thyroid replacement therapies for the rest of their lives. To decrease an enlarged thyroid gland, individuals can use thyroid hormone.